


Magnum and Murdock

by Northern_Lady



Series: Beyond Infinity, After Endgame, Marvel's Never Cease [8]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Legal Drama, Murder Mystery, References to Magnum P.I. (TV), SHIELD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28429023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northern_Lady/pseuds/Northern_Lady
Summary: Peter Quill and Thor investigate a muder, Magnum PI style. Darcy Lewis and Matt Murdock are lawyers on the case.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis, Peter Quill & Thor
Series: Beyond Infinity, After Endgame, Marvel's Never Cease [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2081475
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

The message from New Asgard came while Thor was asleep. He had been working with the Guardians for nearly a year and at first had gotten regular updates from Valkyrie but it had been weeks since the last news. Thor sat down in front of his console early that morning with a cup of coffee to read the latest news of the happenings among his people. 

_Thor, something terrible has happened. There was a murder. A human was killed and one of our people, Ayla, has been accused. In truth, I don’t think she did it but my hands are tied. The man who died was an American and a SHIELD agent. The American government is throwing out threats of a very long imprisonment which is made even more horrific because Ayla is pregnant. Ayla was living in New York when all of this happened. I have gone there myself to try and secure legal counsel. I am doing what I can but if there were a time for you to return and check on your people, it would undoubtedly be now. -Valkyrie._

“I need to return to earth,” Thor told Peter as soon as he entered the kitchen to get his own cup of coffee. “There’s been a murder. One of my people stands accused and Valkyrie believes she is not guilty.” 

Peter poured his coffee before turning to face him. “So you want to go and investigate a murder?” 

“Yes. I wish to go and investigate a murder.” 

“You know, I always thought I might be pretty good at that sort of thing. When I was a kid there was this TV show, Magnum PI. I always figured out the case before the end of the episode. I could go with you.” Quill offered. 

“Of course, any help would be appreciated,” Thor agreed. 

“Good. I’ll set us on a course for earth and start getting the stuff ready.” 

Thor wasn’t sure what “stuff” needed to be gotten ready but he didn’t question it. Quill had his own way of doing things and it usually worked out in the end. 

By the time they arrived on earth it was decided that Quill and Thor would join Valkyrie in New York and the others would remain in Wakanda. The American government didn’t really like advanced alien ships landing in their space or teams of superpowered people who had not signed the Sokovia Accords. Thor was welcome in New York due to his history there and Quill was still an American citizen. The rest of the team was asked to remain in Wakanda. 

The ship had landed and Thor went to the exit hatch to say goodbye to the others. Mantis and Gamora gave him a hug. Tree and Rocket wished him luck. Peter arrived at the hatch wearing white pants and a shirt covered in flowers. He had another similar shirt in his hand which he passed to Thor. 

“You’ll need this. It’s your uniform,” Quill passed Thor the Hawaian shirt. 

“Have you changed your moustache?” Drax asked. 

“No, this is my regular moustache,” Quill said, a bit defensively. 

“That is not your regular moustache,” Mantis argued. “It is thicker and darker.” 

“She is right,” Gamora agreed. 

Peter ignored them and turned to Thor. “Get your shirt on. This thing needs to be authentic.” 

Thor did as he was asked. He had learned by now to just let Quill have his fun but sometimes he did like to antagonize him just a little. “I don’t think Magnum would wear these shoes,” Thor looked down at his own feet. 

“Okay, I’m Thomas Magnum in this scenario, not you,” Peter spoke up. “Just to be clear.” 

“Then am I to be T.C. or Rick?” Thor asked him. 

“Wait? You’ve seen Magnum PI?” 

“Yes. Many times. Clint Barton watched it at the Avengers Compound.” 

“Oh. Well, you’re definitely Rick. I need Drax to be T.C. or to be like T.C.” Peter clarified. 

“Who is this T.C. that I am to emulate?” Drax asked very seriously. 

“T.C. was the helicopter guy. If Magnum and Rick got in any trouble then T.C. would come by in a helicopter and rescue them except he never did it for free,” Peter explained. 

“I am unfamiliar with the term helicopter,” Drax stated. 

“Well it’s…” Peter stepped to a nearby computer console and pulled up footage of a helicopter flying. “It’s one of those.” 

“That is a very primitive form of aircraft,” Drax said as he watched the footage. 

“It’s not primitive. It’s badas,” Quill argued. 

“I do not think I would want to fly in a machine like that,” Drax continued. 

Peter shook his head. “Come on Thor. We have a murder to solve.”


	2. Chapter 2

The little office in Hell’s Kitchen was not the sort of place Darcy had imagined she would be working at but she wouldn’t trade it for anything. Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson were great bosses and made her feel like one of the team. Well, aside from acting all mysterious from time to time. She knew they had some sort of secret. At first she had suspected maybe they were gay and just not ready to come out for some reason but after a few weeks she had dropped that theory. There was something else going on. She doubted it was anything bad. 

As the newest member of the legal team, Darcy often got stuck doing the sorts of duties that would ordinarily be tasked to a legal assistant. They had apparently had a legal assistant before she came along but Karen had left to work full time as a reporter. Darcy didn’t really hate doing assistant duties anyway. She was learning things this way and thus far had been able to keep from embarrassing herself with lack of experience. Currently, she was filing away some paperwork from old cases. 

She heard someone at the door before they knocked. Darcy could see the silhouette of a woman through the tinted glass. 

“Hello?” The woman knocked lightly and opened the door. 

“I know you,” Darcy said, recognizing the potential client right away. “You’re Valkyrie. I’ve seen you on the news when Thor left New Asgard.” 

“And I know you,” Valkyrie stepped into the room wearing a rather ordinary sweater, boots, and dark pants. “You’re Darcy, friend of Jane Foster, and lawyer.” 

“Right. Right that’s me,” Darcy said. “Sometimes I forget that I am. Not that I’m Darcy but that I’m a lawyer. It’s all kinda new.” 

“How new?” Valkyrie asked. 

“Oh don’t worry, if you have a case my bosses are way more experienced and can help you tons. They are really good.” 

“I do have a case,” Valkyrie took the seat across from Darcy’s desk. “What I don’t have is money.” 

“That’s gonna be a problem then,” Darcy said uncomfortably. Her bosses had been having another argument just that morning about the number of free cases they had been doing. 

Valkyrie sighed, deflated. “Then can you answer one question for me?” 

“Sure. I’ll answer if I can.” 

“What happens in this country when a woman has a baby in prison? What happens to the baby?” Valkyrie asked. 

“Um...I think they usually take the baby to the mother’s family or into foster care if she doesn’t have family,” Darcy said, very concerned by this question. 

“And the mother doesn’t get to see her child?” 

“It depends on her crime and the level of security at the prison. Some lighter crimes have visitors allowed.” Darcy explained. 

Valkyrie shook her head. “It’s not one of the lighter crimes. One of my people is accused of murdering a SHIELD agent. She didn’t do it. I have no proof but I know Ayla. She is the kindest, sweetest woman. She doesn’t have it in her to murder anyone.” 

“Well what happened? How did the SHIELD agent die?” Darcy asked. 

“I don’t really know. They aren’t releasing any information about how he died just yet. But it doesn’t matter even if I did know. You just said my lack of money will be a problem. I’ll just have to wait for Thor to get here. Maybe he’ll have a solution.” 

“Thor is coming here?” 

“To New York, yes,” Valkyrie confirmed. 

“Look, I’ll do what I can to convince my bosses to take your case. Do you have a phone number I can reach you at?” Darcy asked. 

Valkyrie wrote down a phone number on a scrap of paper that Darcy passed to her. Darcy watched her go and then took out her cell phone to text Matt. “We have a case.” 

Then she sent another text, this time to her boyfriend. “I heard that one of your co-workers was murdered by an Asgardian. “You know anything about that?” 

Bucky probably wouldn’t tell her anything. If it was top secret he would keep it top secret. He was good at his job as a SHIELD agent and wouldn’t compromise it. But if it wasn’t top secret and the agency was just being secretive to Valkyrie, he might be able to help. 

“Actually, I do.” the reply came moments later. “You have it as a case?” 

“Probably,” Darcy told him. It wasn’t for sure yet but Matt could be convinced and then Foggy would follow. 

“I’m coming to your office then. There’s stuff you should know.”


	3. Chapter 3

Thor didn’t know where Peter had gotten the red car. Thor had just finished picking up food from the airport restaurant and Peter had agreed to secure transportation. Thor exited the establishment, which was a fast food chain due to the Guardians lack of funds, and Peter drove up in a red sports car. 

“Where did you acquire that?” Thor asked as Peter stepped out and put on a pair of aviator sunglasses. 

“It’s a rental.” 

“You do not have the licence to drive that,” Thor had been thinking Peter would get a taxi. “And it’s not the same model as Magnum’s.” 

“Well no but it’s still the right way to go. Magnum has to drive the red car even if it's only a mustang.” 

“Indeed, it is quite inferior to the cars that Tony Stark used to drive.” Thor commented offhand. 

“Yeah, well, we don’t have the money that Tony Stark used to have. Are you coming or not?” 

Thor got into the car and though Peter’s driving was awkward at first, he quickly figured out how to drive the rental mustang as smoothly as the Benetar. They drove forty minutes from the airport to the hotel across the city where Valkyrie was staying. 

Valkyrie was waiting for them at a patio table outside her hotel. She greeted Thor with a hug and they sat down at the table to talk things over. 

“So what happened?” Thor began. “How did Ayla come to be accused of murder?” 

Quill pulled out a notebook out and a pen, ready to take notes. 

“Ayla married the man she is accused of killing. She married him two years ago and moved to New York,” Valkyrie explained. “Garret Crosby was the SHIELD agent who used to check on us monthly at New Asgard when we first settled there.” 

“Yes, I remember,” Thor said excitedly. “He had two dogs, the shepherds from Germany and they growled fiercely at Korg every time he came to visit.” 

“Yes, that’s the one. And you remember Ayla? She has red hair and was a teacher of school children. She helped us open our first school. Well not us, because you hardly came out at all back then but you must remember her?” 

Thor nodded. “Indeed.” 

“So Ayla married Garret and moved to New York and she sent me emails every week. She sounded very happy. Then one morning I got a phone call from jail. Alyla was in a panic. She said Garret was dead and she had been arrested and they were saying that she killed him. She begged me to help her. She didn’t want to have her baby in a Midgardian prison. I tried to get more information out of her but the call was cut off.” 

“Have you been able to talk to her since then? Or to anyone else?” Peter asked, taking his tole very seriously.

“Once I got to New York they wouldn’t let me see her. They said only her lawyers could see her. I may have found legal representation though. Do you remember Darcy Lewis?” Valkyrie asked Thor. 

“Of course I remember Darcy. She was Jane Foster’s friend,” he smiled. The smile faded. “She tazed me.” 

“Well apparently she is a lawyer now and she works as part of a team who can help Ayla...maybe...if they call me,” Valkyrie said worriedly. “I guess we just have to wait.” 

“We don’t solve crimes by sitting around and waiting.” Quill said. “We gotta find a guy who knows a guy.” 

Valkyrie looked confused. “What does that mean?” 

“On Magnum, the private detective always knew someone close enough to the case to get more information. And then they’d go snooping around at the crime scene and figure out a few details of what happened.” 

“Well, I don’t know a guy but I do know where Ayla lived. We could start there,” Valkyrie offered. 

“Let’s go,” Quill was already on his feet and Thor and Valkyrie were getting up to follow. They had just reached the car when he stopped and turned to face them. “I just gotta say that if she is gonna be the girl in the episode, she ought to try and dress the part.” 

“There’s nothing wrong with my clothes,” Valkyrie said, insulted. “Is that why the two of you are dressed so strangely. You’re trying to relive some television program?” 

Thor shrugged his shoulders. “Quill works in unconventional ways. Usually, I just go along with it,” he smiled. 

Valkyrie huffed, “What is the girl in the episode supposed to wear?” 

“The show takes places in Hawaii and there’s lots of beaches so-“ 

“Her clothes are fine as they are,” Thor cut him off. 

Valkyrie glared at Peter once she understood what he had been implying. “Get in the car,” she told him. 

Peter shut up and did as he was told.


	4. Chapter 4

Darcy was glad that her boss was still out of the office when Bucky showed up. It gave her a brief moment to kiss him. The kiss didn’t last long and Darcy stepped away and tried not to blush at the butterflies in her stomach. They hadn’t been dating for long but it seemed like he did that to her a lot. 

“Matt and Foggy will be back soon,” Darcy found her voice, “What did you want me to know?” 

“The guy who died, Agent Garret Crosby wasn’t someone I knew very well. We went on one mission together about six months ago,” Bucky began. “So about a week ago I got pulled from desk duty to go on a surveillance mission for a couple days. I hate surveillance missions but desk duty is worse. It’s at least an upgrade for the former Hydra agent. They barely let me out of the office at all. Anyway, I got there and the other guy they assigned, Nick Weston, says that he’s surprised they found a replacement for Garret so quick. Usually when an agent dies they have mountains of paperwork to do before his shifts can get covered.” 

Bucky moved to sit down on top of her desk. “It’s gets weird though. We finished our mission in three days instead of two and got back to the office and there was this killed in action memorial for Garret on the wall but the date was for the day after our mission started. Nick told me Garret was dead, before his official date of death had even happened.” 

“Did they just make a mistake with the memorial?” Darcy asked. 

“That’s what I thought too but the higher ups are insisting it’s right and Nick… he hasn’t been back to the office all week and he’s not answering his calls.” 

“Wow, that’s really good information to have but you probably shouldn’t be telling me any of it,” Darcy said, still mulling it over. 

“No one told me any of this was top secret or required any clearance. I’m telling you because there is something screwed up about all of this and if there is still a murderer out there, people who investigate could get hurt. I don’t want you to get hurt Darcy.” 

“I don’t really like the idea of getting acquainted with murderers either,” Darcy admitted. “But if we don’t at least try to figure it out that Asgardian lady is gonna go to prison and have her baby in jail. I have to try.” 

Bucky smiled a little. “I thought you’d say that. Just promise me you won’t do anything dangerous. And take your bosses with you to interview the creeps...not that Foggy or Matt could really fight their way out if it came to that but...just be careful.” 

“I’ll be careful.” She agreed, kind of enjoying his protectiveness a little. “But I’ll be okay. I did taze Thor, after all.” 

Bucky kissed one last time and then left Darcy to continue her work. Foggy and Matt returned ten minutes later. 

“So, I kinda have a case for us,” she announced as they came through the door. 

“A case that pays?” Foggy asked. 

“Maybe...not yet… probably not…” she said. 

“Who is it? Who needs help?” Matt asked. 

Darcy told them everything she had learned from Valkyrie and from Bucky. 

“What is that look on your face?” Foggy said to Matt. “I know that face and that face is gonna cost us a lot of money.” 

“I guess that means I’ll bring Darcy with me to talk to Ayla,” Matt said. “You can stay in the office and try to find us some cases that have money.” 

Darcy sighed with relief and got up to go with her boss to meet the accused Asgardian.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will only really make sense if you have already ready part two of this series. The story Broken Promises is tied to this chapter and further events in this story.

Tess Black really didn’t like New Asgard as well as New York city. She had liked old Asgard. Her father had been there, even if he was disguised as Odin, he had at least been there. In the evenings he had changed back to himself in their private apartment and they had practiced magic and read books and she had loved every minute of it. 

But she had survived the attack by Thanos on their ship and he hadn’t. For six years she had been alone. She had tried texting Peter Parker when the Asgardian survivors arrived on earth. He never replied and she had realized he must be gone. 

Tess had made friends among the people of Asgard. It didn’t make her stop missing him, her dad, or Peter. Those had been the best six months of her life, living on Asgard. And now, the few friends she had made here would probably hate her if they knew the things that she knew. They didn’t know she was Loki’s daughter and they certainly didn’t know about her troubles the last few weeks. 

The school bell rang and Tess grabbed her stuff to head to the place she called home. It was a sort of foster home for Asgardian kids who had been orphaned in the wars against Thanos. At sixteen she was one of the oldest kids there. Right now she was probably the most frightened kid there too. 

Tess arrived at the little house in the village that was called home. She ran up the stairs and slammed the door shut behind her, locking all three locks. Almost immediately Ronja began pounding on the door. 

“Stop hiding in there and come out and do your laundry!” Ronja shouted. 

“I haven’t got enough for a full load. I’ll do it later!” Tess shouted back. 

The hallway went silent for a moment. “You got a letter from the SHIELD fellow.” 

Tess jumped up and unlocked all three locks on her door. “Where is it?” 

Ronja, a plump busty older woman pulled the envelope from her apron pocket. “Here it is.” 

Tess snatched it out of her hand and tore into the envelope. A small slip of paper was the only thing inside..

Tess, something went terribly wrong. I won’t be able to help you after this. I’m sorry. Use the coin if you have to. -Nick. 

She read the letter three more times and then sank to the floor, unable to keep from crying. If Agent Nick couldn’t help her anymore then she was done for. The coin wasn’t going to work. Yes, Valkyrie had told her that Loki from another timeline still existed somewhere but he wouldn’t come for her. He wasn’t the same Loki who had rescued her from the Chitauri and had befriended Peter or had lived with her on Asgard. The other Loki wasn’t the father she had known and he might not even have any magical connection to the coin that had been given to her. 

There was only one thing left she could do. She would have to find Valkyrie in New York and tell her the truth. If she couldn’t do that she could at least hide in New York. 

Tess got up and started packing a backpack full of things. She had some money and could probably make that go further with the use of her magic. It would have to be enough. No one else should have to die because of her. Agent Garret had tried to help her but Valkyrie said he was dead and now for some reason Agent Nick couldn’t help her either. 

Tess slipped out the window with her backpack and headed for the airport. It was only a few miles walk so even if she couldn’t get a ride she would get there in a few hours. She kept checking behind her the entire way there to see that she hadn’t been followed. Being followed on her way home a few months earlier was what had started all this. She had gotten scared of what had been following her, two frost giants of Jotunhiem. They had caught her and when they put a knife to her throat she had done something her father had taught her not to do. She had called on dark magic to defend herself. The two frost giants had been killed. Agent Garret and Agent Nick had helped her dispose of the bodies because afterwards she had gone to him in a mess of tears and confessed what she had done. 

Thinking about it now, Tess didn’t understand why they had done that. She didn’t understand why they had helped her or why they had been there to defend her the next time the frost giants came for her. She didn’t know what the Jotuns wanted from her at all and then Valkyrie had gone to New York with news that Agent Garret was dead. Tess felt like it was all her fault he had died. All her fault.

The plane ride went smoothly. Tess got as far as the airport parking lot in New York before she was sure that she was being followed again. A white van pulled up alongside her and she braced herself, ready to use her defensive magic in the only way she knew how. She raised her hands and took a step back, blocked off by a row of cars. A very tall man dressed in white got out of the passenger seat of the van. The side door opened to reveal two other men inside. They weren’t men, Tess was sure of that. They could change their appearance with illusionary magic. 

“Don’t bother with the magic, missy. You won’t be needing it,” The man in white said. He was bearded, wore sunglasses, and spoke with a European accent. 

“I’m not getting in there.” Tess said firmly, with a confidence she did not have. In truth she was terrified. 

“You think we want you?” The man chuckled. “No missy. It’s the coin we want. Give us the coin that summons Loki and you’re free to go.” 

“Why do you want it? Loki is dead!” Tess sobbed, wanting only to protect what was left of her father. 

“No missy, Loki isn’t dead, but you know that or else you would gladly trade the coin for your own life. You think you are protecting him. Give it to me and you may leave.” 

Tess wasn’t sure what to do. She was backed up against a large black pickup truck. The white van and several frost giants in disguise blocked her only escape. Her Father had said that she was supposed to ask the old gods for permission to use dark magic, that summoning it with her own inner magic was dangerous, but he had never taught her how to ask. 

Tess raised her hands and pulled forces from the dark dimension. She used the energy to blast the frost giants and the van aside. And then she tried to run. This time though they had planned for her reaction and had shielded themselves. She heard the man in white catching up to her and as he closed the distance she pulled the coin from her pocket, and with the help of her magic, sent it flying off into the city to where they would never find it. 

Arms closed around her midsection and Tess screamed in terror as the man in white caught her. He spun her around to face him. “You’ll wish you hadn’t done that,” he spat the words at her. “Summon it back.” 

“No,” Tess said with as much courage as she could find. 

“Come on. We’ll change her mind,” one of the others said as they dragged her back towards the van. 

Tess struggled against them despite knowing she couldn’t hope to fight so many. She could only hope that her coin would reach its intended destination and that he would understand what to do with it.


	6. Chapter 6

Darcy wasn’t too thrilled when she learned that Ayla had been moved to a SHIELD holding facility and that they would need to go there to interview her. She and Matt got back in the car and she started the engine to drive the few miles to where Ayla was being held. 

“You okay? You seem tense,” Matt said. 

“You know it’s really weird sometimes how much stuff you pick up on for a blind guy?” Darcy said without thinking. It was a bad habit of hers. 

“I’ve been told that before,” he said with half a smile. “But am I right? There is something wrong?” 

“I really don’t like SHIELD,” Darcy gave as explanation. 

“Doesn’t your boyfriend work for SHIELD?” Matt asked. 

“Yeah, but that’s different. I mean for one, he doesn’t even like SHIELD either. And to be honest I’m still pissed that they took my ipod.” 

“Sounds like there’s a story behind that,” Matt said. 

While they rode she told Matt the story of what had happened when Thor first came to earth, lost his hammer, and how her ipod came to be taken by SHIELD. They reached the facility, parked the car, and headed inside. An agent in a suit brought them to Ayla’s holding cell. 

Darcy felt a pang of sadness the moment she saw the Asgardian woman. Ayla had long blonde hair worn in the Asgardian style. She wore a dress but it was obviously a dress made on earth as it came only to her knees and she wore a long button up sweater and tall boots too. The woman was clearly pregnant but not as large as Darcy’s cousin Sara had been in her eighth month of pregnancy so maybe they still had enough time to get her out before the delivery. 

Matt introduced the two of them as lawyers interested in her case and they sat down across from her at a small table. 

“What can you tell us Ayla about what happened to your husband?” Matt asked her. 

“I don’t know what happened to him,” she said, her eyes welling up with tears. “He was a liaison agent to my people at New Asgard. He went there monthly to check in with the people and make sure that living on a new planet was going smoothly. He had gone away to check in with them and wasn’t even due back for a couple more days. I went out to the garden and...I found his body,” she bit her lip to keep from crying. “I swear, I have no idea how he got there. He got on the plane on Monday, he texted me from Norway and said he arrived safe, and Thursday he was dead in the garden. I would never kill him. I had no reason to kill him. I loved him. We’re having a son in four months…” 

“Alright, I need you to walk me through it. What did you do when you found his body?” Matt asked her. 

“I called his partner, Nick,” Ayla said freely. 

“Why did you do that?” Matt asked. “Why not call the police and tell them you found a body?” 

Ayla shook her head. “I didn’t know what to do. On Asgard we didn’t have police like yours. There was the palace guard and the city watch but they only existed to protect the throne and the city from outside threats. We didn’t have someone to protect us from each other.” 

“So there’s no crime on old Asgard?” Matt asked skeptically. 

“There were crimes on occasion but when that happened it became a dispute to be brought before Odin to be judged and punished accordingly. We counted on our friends and neighbors to protect us from thieves and ruffians and on Odin to punish those crimes. I only learned after all this that the police should have been called in this matter.” 

Matt nodded, understanding her explanation. “So when you called Nick, how did that call go?” 

“I don’t remember every detail. I was rather distraught. I told him I had found Garret’s body and I wanted to know when he had last seen him. Had they been in Norway together? Had anything happened?” Ayla explained. “Nick told me that Garret had some sort of emergency and had gone home early. He insisted he knew nothing about it beyond that and told me to call the police. I did what he asked and the police came. They didn’t help. They arrested me.” 

“Other than you finding the body, was there a reason they charged you with his murder?” Matt asked. He hadn’t been given any paperwork from her file when he arrived. 

“It is because two weeks ago our neighbors heard us have an argument. That and he was killed by a being of great strength. I am Asgardian. I’m stronger than a human. They say I am strong enough to have done the damage inflicted on him but I’m not sure it’s true,” Ayla told them sadly. “I’m not that strong for an Asgardian. I’m rather ordinary.” 

“What did you argue about?” Darcy spoke up for the first time. 

Ayla shook her head. “It was stupid. I do not get along well with his mother. She had apparently disliked the birthday gift I gave her a few weeks back and I overheard her say that she shouldn’t have expected anything better from an alien trollop. I confronted her and said some nasty words of my own, enough to make the woman cry. After she had gone home Garret and I had an argument. He believed I had gone too far. We were shouting loudly enough for the neighbors to hear. The next day we made our apologies and I thought that was the end of it.” 

They agreed to take the case and spoke with Ayla further about what would happen at the trial and what the future might look like. Darcy sent a text to Valkyrie letting her know that they were taking the case. 

She arrived home that evening feeling a little bit worn out. Darcy took out her keys and saw movement to her right. Bucky was in the hallway of her apartment building and was headed towards her. She smiled a little to herself. They had only been dating a few weeks but she kinda liked that he went out of his way to see her. 

“You meet the Asgardian lady?” he asked her as he joined her outside her apartment door. 

Darcy unlocked her door and pushed it open. “I did. You coming in?” 

“Definitely,’ Bucky agreed, following her in. 

She pulled the door shut just as he distracted her with a kiss.


End file.
